Below the Sky

Chapter 6: Riana

Chapter 6. Riana

As I followed Lila up the trail to dinner, I silently scolded myself. How could I do this! I was so close, a millimeter farther and I would have finally known what it feels like to have Lila's lips against mine. Then, like always, the moment was ruined. If only I had moved quicker, hadn't taken my sweet old time to advance on her. Never less, it was done and over, and now I had to live with the fact that maybe Lila just simply didn't have the same feelings towards me that I did towards her.

When we finally made it to the campsite, Bill, Oliver, and Maya were already seated around a fire, plates of food in their laps. Laurel was bustling around, making sure everyone had silverware and what not.
"Oh Lila, Riana, there you are," she exclaimed when she saw us approaching her. "You can serve yourselves, we're having chili tonight!"
"Okay, thanks Laurel," I said. Me and Lila both moved to dish ourselves, but I let her move past me, letting her know that I didn't want to have minimal space between us.
I finally served myself my food, and sat down next to Maya. The chili was really good honestly, not too spicy but not bland either. Laurel was a really good cook after all. Lila sat on the opposite end of the fire, seemingly attempting to space ourselves distinctively.
When everybody had finished our dinner, we all helped Laurel clean up, then sat around the fire, roasting marshmallows.
"Do you like having a burned marshmallow, or not?" Maya asked me as she held her stick in the fire.
"I like my not that burned actually," I said, "You?"
"I don't like having a burned marshmallow either, but Lila likes to roast her's until it's black." My heart ached at the mention of Lila, but I brushed that aside, and responded, "Wow, I feel like that wouldn't taste that good." I felt someone's gaze on me, so I looked over my shoulder, and noticed Lila, staring at me. Our eyes met for a second, hers a blazing flame of anger. I broke the eye contact almost as quickly as it started, returning to my marshmallow roasting.
The rest of the evening followed more of the same. We finished with our marshmallows, then all stifling yawns, staggered off to our tents. Maya was with me and Lila, and Oliver with Laurel and Bill. I wasn't too excited about having to spend the night in a tight, enclosed space with Lila, but I figured that we could just put Maya between us, and we'd be fine.

When all the lights were off, and the last of the fire was put out, I crawled into my tent. Lila and Maya were already there, and Lila, and Maya was already next to Lila on Lila's right, putting her in the middle. I sighed with relief.
I crawled into my sleeping bed, and laid my head down. I watched Maya's body rise and fall as she breathed, and over Maya, I noticed Lila, her breathing not as calm as Maya's. I figured that she was still awake.
I tossed and turned for a while, and eventually, when I realized that no matter how hard I tried, sleep wouldn't come, I snuck out of my tent. No one was outside, and I sat around the glowing embers remaining from our fire. I sat there for some time, thinking about what a day I'd had. I have met a lot of people in my lifetime, but none of them have made me feel the way Lila does. She was just, special.
I heard a rustle, and noticed someone crawling out of my tent. I prayed to god that it wasn't Lila, but unfortunately, my prayers were not answered. Lila emerged from the tent, stood up, and came over and sat next to me.
"Hey," she said. I was still mad at her, but I said hey back anyways.
"Are you mad at me?" She asked, already well knowing what the answer was. "No," I lied, aggression hinting in my tone.
"Look, I'm sorry for whatever I did, but if it's about what happened earlier..."
"Look Lila," I turned to face her, "I'm not mad at you, I'm just—frustrated! No one in my entire life has ever made me feel the way you make me feel. You make me happy, you make me sad, you make me insanely jealous, and you make me want to rip my heart out and just throw it off a cliff sometimes."
"Riana..."
"No, let me finish. I like you, a lot, more than you'll ever know. I don't want to just be your friend. You keep me up at night, you make me stressed during the day, you're just, so impossible sometimes." I exhaled, and mildly noticed that my heart felt like it was about to burst out of my chest from how fast it was racing right now.
"Riana, look at me," I didn't even realize that I was avoiding her eye contact, but when my eyes met hers again, I jolted. Lila took my hands, and stared into my soul. "I'm sorry that I've made you feel really frustrated. It's just, the whole thing with Luke, and me not being sure how I felt, look." Then Lila's gaze seemed to drop. She gave up talking, realizing how simple words couldn't really convey what she needed to say that well.
After so long, Lila's lips met mine. They were soft, and I sank into them like I'd been craving them. The kiss was passionate, strong. I grabbed her hair, and pulled her closer, closer. Lila seemed to feel the same way too. She put her hand on my chin, trying to draw me in.
"Wait," I stopped for a second, "are you sure?"
"I'm sure, I want it," she said.
"Okay." I grabbed the ends of Lila's shirt, and worked it off. Still kissing her, we shimmied off the bench, and laid down on the dirt. I was on top of her, and helped her take my shirt off. I worked my kisses down her neck, her stomach, and farther. This was special, sweet, and I was happy to give my body to the girl that made me feel this way.